RICH YUNG REPORT: Dubai's Atlantis hotel opens with $20 million party

The Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai opened last Thursday with a multimillion-dollar star-spangled party, and a spectacular display of lighting and pyrotechnics.

Having spent $1.5 billion, the owners of the Atlantis hotel, which they hope will become the new symbol of excess in a region already replete with towering statements of wealth, splashed out $20 million on its opening.


In the lobby of the Atlantis about 2,000 guests sipped Dom Pérignon. Outside, A-list celebrities from Robert De Niro to Lindsay Lohan walked the red carpet. After the pop singer Kylie Minogue performed on stage the sky lit up with the world’s largest fireworks display, seven times greater than this year’s Olympic Games opening ceremony in Beijing and extravagant enough to be seen from outer space